Thursday, November 03, 2005

One of the lines liberals took after the Iranian president came out with his "Wipe Israel off the map" comment (incidentally, if you haven't yet, see Drybones on this) was that we (the West) don't have to worry; Ahmadenijad might be the president, but he's a political naif, out of his depth, he's not really in control and the the devils we know and are comfortable with, those who put him into office, will rush to correct his diplomatic blunders (Rafsanjani's statements etc.) and will quickly make him say all the 'right' things, so that we can sleep soundly in our beds (even as Iran gets on, quietly, with the business of building a nuclear bomb).Not really in control?Ahmadenijad has just removed 40 Iranian ambassadors from their posts -- concentrating, of course, on the so-called 'liberal'/'moderate' ones (it's all relative, of course). He's setting the scene for an Iran that doesn't play diplomatic games -- it will be completely open about its nuclear intentions, its hatred of Israel and the West, no pussyfooting around and no nice, calming rhetoric while it gets on with its hate-filled agenda quietly.It's the Taliban all over again -- being simple, being unsophisticated, does not equal weakness in office, often the opposite; they can be more single-minded than the more politically astute and the more worldly. The Western liberals better stop fooling themselves: he's got the power and he's going to use it for his own little revolution. They're going to be in for a shock.